“Faith provides a clear moral compass and a call to action that benefits society as a whole,” Mr Pickles will say. “At a time when Christians are under attack for their beliefs in different parts of the world, I am proud of the freedom of belief that exists in Britain.

“In recent years, long-standing British liberties of freedom have been undermined by the intolerance of aggressive secularism: taking people to task for wearing a cross or a rosary or beginning costly legal actions against council prayers — as if they had nothing better to do.

“We’re committed to the right of Christians and people of all beliefs to follow their faith openly, wear religious symbols and pray in public.”

In a speech on the Government’s integration policy, Mr Pickles becomes the latest senior minister to speak about the importance of faith in public life.

The Communities Secretary will also stress the importance of immigrants learning English.

He will condemn the “old statist policies” of previous governments that provided translators to those without good English, which “made matters worse”.

“It led us to the incomprehensible situation where we have no one speaking English as their main language in five per cent of households,” Mr Pickles will say. “That’s terrible for community relations and for the taxpayer.”

“If we want people to get along, it makes sense they speak English. I’m not expecting everyone to adopt the lyrical dexterity of a Boris Johnson. But the reality is that you need English to succeed.”

He will stress that he does not want people to “lose touch with their culture” or “cease being proud of their roots” but will add: “It [speaking English] will give people the power to improve their circumstances and climb the social ladder.”

Mr Pickles will also point out the situation where Chinese parents in Beijing, or Indian parents in Mumbai, are “striving” for their children to learn English but some immigrants in Britain have not mastered the language.

Judges from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg are expected to rule on whether four Christians were discriminated against at work following claims that they were forced out of their jobs for wearing a cross.

Ministers back the rights of people to wear the cross and religious figures have called for the law to be changed to protect Christians if the claimants lose.